The Apple-Google coronavirus exposure notification tool is one step closer to being launched. The two companies released software that will help public health authorities build apps that incorporate their exposure notification tool. Apple, specifically, rolled out a software update to iOS devices that some users could download immediately. This big public unveiling raises a couple of important questions: Will any government agencies actually build those apps? And will anybody use them?

These questions remain unanswered. They also raise another, more essential question: How will the new Apple-Google tool help the world fight the coronavirus pandemic? The companies sold the concept early on as part of a tech-based solution to a very difficult problem. But now, Apple and Google admit the tool is not meant to be a silver bullet.

Yet, there is progress. Recode's Sara Morrison reports that following the late April release of a beta version of the technology, Apple and Google announced on Wednesday that the application programming interface (API) for its exposure notification tool is now being released to public health authorities. According to the companies, several countries and three US states — Alabama, North Dakota, and South Carolina — will base their digital contact tracing apps on the tool.